Roger Barnette

Roger Barnette is CEO of MessageGears, an email marketing technology provider that allows major global brands to deliver individualized experiences to their customers at scale in real-time. Roger has more than 20 years of experience leading and growing technology businesses. Prior to MessageGears, he led IgnitionOne (acquired by Dentsu), Biltmore Communications (acquired by DIRECTV) and eTour (acquired by Ask.com). Roger has received numerous awards including the Atlanta Internet Marketer of The Year Award and Emory’s Goizueta Business School Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. He is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and is a mentor at Techstars Atlanta. Roger is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and has been featured by national media outlets including CNN, Fox News, Fox Business, and NBC Nightly News. He earned an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business and a bachelor of science degree in computer and electrical engineering from the University of South Carolina. Roger has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2013.

Jerry W. Cain

Jay Cain lives in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1992 with a degree in International Studies. He received his law degree from the University of Georgia and currently works as an attorney at his own firm where he focuses on workers’ compensation insurance defense. Jay served on the Board of the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers from 1995 to 1997. He is a member of the Georgia Bar Association, the Atlanta Bar Association, and the Georgia Defense Lawyers’ Association. He has been admitted to practice law in the state of Georgia, the United States District Court (Northern & Middle Districts of Georgia), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been a member of the South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board since 2012.

Dan D'Alberto

Dan D’Alberto lives in Columbia, SC and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1997 with a degree in Political Science. He received a Master of Education in 2000 from Florida State University and a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 2005.   Dan is currently a solo practitioner with D’Alberto Law Firm, manages a consulting firm known as GrayFox Strategic, and maintains numerous entrepreneurial activities.  He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Palmetto Health Foundation and on the Alumni Council for the USC College of Arts & Sciences. He has been a member of the South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board since 2012. 

Lori Clos Fisher

Lori Clos Fisher lives in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1983 with a degree in Finance. She also received a Master of International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina in 1985.  Clos Fisher is a Managing Director at Bank of America, where she has held a variety of positions over the past 30 years. She has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012.

Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall lives in Columbia, SC and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1987 with a degree in International Studies. He earned a J.D. in 1990 from Emory University School of Law. He is a partner at Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP, and has worked at Hall & Bowers, LLP (Partner); Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP; BellSouth Telecommunication, Inc., and SCANA Services, Inc. He has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2014. 

Catherine Heigel, Partnership Board Vice Chairwoman

Catherine Heigel graduated from the Honors College in 1992 with a degree in International Studies and earned her law degree from The Ohio State University School of Law in 1995. Heigel is the president of Carolina Water Service and has more than 22 years of legal and corporate leadership experience. She performed two years of public service from 2015 to 2017, serving as Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Heigel has served as Chief Operating Officer at Elliott Davis in Greenville, SC and as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to American Transmission Company, an electric transmission utility based in Wisconsin. For 11 years prior to that, she was with Duke Energy Corporation, serving in various capacities to her last role with the company as president of their South Carolina operations. Heigel has been a member of the South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board since 2012.

Steve Hibbard

Steve Hibbard lives near San Francisco, California, where he is a senior litigation partner with Jones Day, a global law firm. He graduated in 1983 from South Carolina College as the University's first Harry S. Truman Scholar, first recipient of the BArSc degree, and as Omicron Delta Kappa’s National Leader of the Year. He received a law degree from Yale University and has practiced in New York and California. Hibbard is currently Chairman of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Relations and a board member of Lawyers Without Borders. He established SCHC’s William A. Mould and Peter C. Sederberg Scholarship and, in 1997, was an inaugural recipient of the SCHC Distinguished Alumni Award. Hibbard has served as a member of the Honors College Partnership Board since 2002.

Anita Hood

Anita Hood lives in Columbia, SC and has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012.  A Carolina Scholar, she graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1983 with a degree in Biology.  She received her medical degree from the USC School of Medicine in 1987 and completed her residency at Wake Forest University, serving as Chief Resident.  Anita was an inaugural recipient of the SCHC Distinguished Alumni Award in 1997.  She was also the inaugural recipient of the Superintendent’s Volunteer Service Award for Lexington-Richland School District Five, and serves on its Health Education Advisory Board.  She and her husband, Honors College alumnus and fellow Carolina Scholar Charles Hood, recently endowed a new Carolina Scholar scholarship.  Following several years in medical practice, Anita currently is director of pre-med programs and the combined BARSC-MD program for the Honors College.

Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones lives in Columbia, SC and has been a member of the South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board since 2008. He is an alumnus of the Honors College class of 1985 with a degree in International Studies and also received an International MBA from the University of South Carolina in 1987. He was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma and a Carolina Scholar.  At USC, he has served on the Moore School’s International Business Advisory Council (2002-2005) and on the board for Innovation in Insurance (2009-2012).  He is past chair of iTs SC, the insurance technology economic development cluster in Columbia and continues to serve on their executive board. He is Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Duck Creek Technologies.

Ben Rex

Ben Rex is the chief executive officer and founder of Cyberwoven. Founded in 2001, Cyberwoven is a full-service digital strategy, design, and development firm that propels business, builds community, and achieves results. A 2003 graduate of the South Carolina Honors College, Ben is committed to social progress and economic prosperity in South Carolina. To this end, he serves on the boards of the Columbia Museum of Art, the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the South Carolina Honors College, and South Arts. Ben, his wife Sidney, son Fritz, and daughter Alice reside in Columbia, SC. Ben is a Fellow of the 12th class of the Liberty Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

Thomas J. G. Scott

Thomas Scott is Senior Counsel for Cruise Automation, GM's self-driving car startup based in San Francisco. Thomas graduated from the Honors College with a BArSc degree in African Development in 2006. While a student, he received the Carolina Scholarship and the Harry S. Truman Scholarship.  He also co-founded the Waverly After-School Program and studied abroad in South Africa. Thomas went on to receive a J.D. from Stanford Law School and a Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. Prior to joining Cruise, Thomas was an associate at the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Washington, D.C.  Thomas has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012.

Jacob L. Shuford

Rear Admiral Jacob L. Shuford graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors Program in 1974 with a degree in Arts & Letters. He also received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University and a Master of National Security Studies and Strategy from the U.S. Naval War College. He won the Defense Superior Service Medal and was an Olmsted Scholar in 1979, where he studied at the Paris Institute of Political Science for two years. Prior to Shuford’s selection as the 51st president of the U.S. Naval War College, he commanded the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, and was the Director of the US Navy’s Senate Office.  As Managing Director of a Tampa-based Government Technical Support Company, Admiral Shuford remains involved with a range of science and technology initiatives for the Navy. He has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012.

Sherri R. Timmons

Sherri Timmons lives in Greenville, SC and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1976 with a degree in Journalism. A member of Kappa Tau Alpha, Mortar Board, Omicron Delta Kappa and Alpha Delta Pi, she served on the University of South Carolina Board of Visitors and Alumni Board of Governors. She is a former trustee of Christ Church Episcopal School, Greenville, and served on the board of Artisphere International Arts Festival.  She has been a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012 and was given the SCHC Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017.

Jeffrey Vinzani

Jeff Vinzani is from Charleston, SC and graduated from the South Carolina Honors College in 1983 with a degree in Economics. He also earned his law degree from USC.  Jeff has served as the Ninth Circuit Governor on the Board of Governors of the University of South Carolina, was President of the Charleston County Carolina Alumni Club, and was also a winner of the SCHC Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998. He served on the Transition Team for State Treasurer Curtis Loftis as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Board of Financial Institutions. Since May 2015, Jeff has served on the Board of Trustees of South Carolina State University. Vinzani is a partner at Graybill Lansche & Vinzani, LLC, and a member of the SCHC Partnership Board since 2012.

Marshall Winn, Partnership Board Chairman

Marshall Winn is from Greenville, SC and has been a member of the South Carolina Honors College Partnership Board since 2002. He graduated from the Honors Program summa cum laude in 1974 with a degree in English and worked in Honors admissions several years thereafter, where he was instrumental in the establishment of SCHC.  He received his law degree from Harvard University in 1982 and won the SCHC Distinguished Alumni Award in 2003. Marshall proposed the Class Connections/Class Captains project in 2006. He and his wife Jeannette recently endowed a new Carolina Scholar scholarship. He is an attorney at Wyche P.A., where he has practiced since 1985.